Russians More Positive About Job Prospects as Unemployment Falls

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 27, 2016)

Russians are more positive about their job prospects than one year ago, according to a report by a state Russian state pollster.

In the survey run by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), less than a quarter of respondents (23 percent) claimed that someone close to them had lost their job in the last two to three months, down from 28 percent in January and 27 percent one year ago.

The poll also demonstrates an annual high of 27 percent of Russians who believe they could easily find work if they lost their current job with a further 29 percent believing finding new work would not be particularly difficult.

The percentage of Russians saving in case they lose employment also fell to 23 percent, having been between 23 and 27 since the beginning of the year, the survey showed with 30 percent claiming they have no plans to make additional savings.

Exactly a quarter of those surveyed however, believed finding a new job would be “seriously difficult” while 18 percent “see practically no chance of finding new work,” the survey showed.

The poll comes as figures released this week by Russia’s Labor Ministry showed a 1.1 percent drop in unemployment between 14 and 21 Sept, falling to 882,000.

The study was carried out among 1600 people from Aug. 27 to 28 in 130 locations across Russia.